Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hear the Word of God, from John 11.25-26 (NIV):
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
In his devotional book Abundant Living, E. Stanley Jones writes the following words about the fear of death:
Many go through life spoiling it through fear of death. But why should a Christian be afraid of death? To be afraid of that larger life is a species of atheism. Doubt of the future means doubt of the present. It means that the Master, who went down through death and came up and said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me…shall never die,” is not dependable for the ultimate things, and therefore not dependable for the immediate things. As the little bird on a twig of the tree, when the storm is about to twist it off its perch, might say, “All right; twist me off – I have another alternative – I have wings,” so we can say to Death, “Twist me off my earthly perch – I have another alternative – I have immortality…God.” Nothing can shake that.
Jones refers to John 11.25, in which Jesus declares, “"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (NIV). Meeting with Martha after the death of her brother Lazarus, Jesus follows His declaration with a question to her: “Do you believe this?” This is the same question Jesus’ asks today as we celebrate His resurrection from the dead.
The Apostle Paul certainly believed it. In 1 Corinthians 15.12-22 (NIV), he writes:
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
It’s little wonder, then, that Paul, like E. Stanley Jones, had a faith that nothing could shake. In Romans 8.37-39 (NIV), he writes:
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson writes:
The resurrection of Jesus is the axis around which our faith revolves. When Jesus rose from the dead, it radically redefined reality. When He walked out of the tomb under His own power, the word “impossible” was removed from our vocabulary…
The resurrection isn’t something we celebrate once a year by donning an Easter bonnet. It’s something we celebrate every day in every way. The resurrection of dead bodies is nothing short of miraculous, and the rematerialization of dead bodies when Christ returns is going to be must-see TV. But the resurrection miracles don’t stop there. God raises dreams from the dead. He resurrects dead relationships. And no matter what part of your personality has died at the hands of sin or suffering or Satan himself, the Grave Robber came to give you your life back!
When Jesus died on the cross, Satan smiled. But the Graver Robber got the last laugh. He always does. And if you give Him a chance, He’ll give you a second chance.
He will give you your smile back.
He will give you your laugh back.
He will give you your life back.
Do you believe this?
If you do, He will make the impossible possible.
The impossible is possible in the Risen Christ.
And because of that possibility, we can have a faith that is unshakeable.
Unshakeable. That’s the word that describes the salvation God provided once and for all through the cross and resurrection of His Son Jesus. That’s the kind of faith we can express as we celebrate Easter. That’s the kind of peace we can experience every day, even in the face of pandemics, mass shootings, and a planet seemingly at war with itself. That’s the kind of life we can live every day, even in the face of death itself.
I faced death last December in the cardiac intensive care unit of a hospital in which I could have no visitors due to Covid. But I had more than a visitor…I had a resurrected living Lord who kept me from shaking. And, on this Easter, I face life…life in all of its glorious fullness, splendor, and possibility. And I am unshakeable…not because of who I am, but because of who Jesus is.
Unshakeable. Why? Because Christ has risen…HE HAS RISEN INDEED!
Do you believe this?
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen.
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